"Earth seems shaken up now, I think we should start the adaptation."
"No, let us wait a little bit longer, we still have to see, what the test results say."
... LINKS ARE ESTABLISHED ... READY TO START ADAPTATION ...
"There is no need for the results, let us just start. After all we have no more time left..." A sinister smile was looking on top of the earth seemingly eager to devour it whole.
- SHOT - A man fell down on the cold stone floor, alone and seemingly forgotten. A pile of blood was slowly gathering itself under the man soaking his clothes in a deep red colour. Time was standing still. Suddenly the corpse moved and shook, only to wobble again and again, rising up to slay something...
"AAAHHH! My clothes! WTH.... My head hurts so much." The man grabbed his head and massaged his temples trying to forcefully relief himself of the pain.
"I can't remember a thing of what happened. This seems like my home at le-"
... ADAPTATION COMPLETE ... COMPLETION RATE 96% ... ACHIEVING "GREAT NEW START" ... LINKING FAILED?! INITIATING REBOOT ... REBOOT FAILED ... INITIATING REBOOT ... NO RESPONSE ... CHANGING PROTOCOLL ... INITIATING INFORMATION NETWORK ... NEW LOCATION DISCOVERED ... WELCOME TO EARTH - MAY THE RUMBLING BEGIN ...
The man suddenly heard a strange robotic voice that seemed somehow familiar. Looking to the right, he saw a metal revolver laying on the ground. Picking it up and opening it, there were two bullets missing in the chamber.
"Did I shoot myself? I need to gather intel and what the hell was that voice. I - I must be imagining things already." The man suddenly walked towards his door to get some fresh air and see other people, only to step into the puddle of blood again.
"On second thought, I'll change clothes first."
Before going out the man picked the revolver up again and hid it in his bag after getting the shells out.
... EXPERIENCED SUNLIGHT FOR THE FIRST TIME ... INITIATING ADAPTATION ... TRYING TO ADAPT ... STARTING TO PRODUCE MORE MELANIN ... SKIN COLOR CHANGING ... NEW LOOK AQUIRED ... ADAPTATION COMPLETE ... LOOKING TANNED ...
Suddenly the man experienced a lot of pain seeing visibly how his skin tone changed from the pale one of keyboard warrior to one that resembled a beach guard in summer. The process took change in ten seconds, but they felt like an eternity. The man looked at himself with interest and confusion, not feeling the blood that came from his bitten on lips.
Seeing him standing there like a lost child a woman approached him.
"Name and Status." She just uttered three words which the man didn't know what to make off. He stood there completly silent, not knowing how to answer.
"Your calibration seems off. I am Laurel. Vice Captain Second Class. Let me take you to the commander and medics at the test centre. They should be able to run some tests on you." Having no other choice and trying to get more information he followed her.
- The group of 2 began walking towards the centre of the city. Laurel talked about how they were looking for him since he went missing and was untrackable. But also that the Links were successfully established everywhere and he wouldn't have to worry about it. On their way there, they saw orderly lined people. The man recognized some as his neighbors but they were acting strange. They looked at him with wide eyes as if he was some beast. All those humans or hosts, as Laurel said, were going towards the same place as them - The centre, where the markets, political buildings and the mall would normally have been, was seemingly abducted or rather transformed into facilities housing abnormal medical inventions and offices like those from the military. They went to a huge tent right at the central plaza, entering it, while everyone gazed at them.
"Commander, I found him, but he is having trouble calibrating his new host"
'DAD?!'
"Welcome Mars. I hope your host wasn't too aggressive. After the last battle you were wounded, so the adaptation problem should be normal. How about your core? Can you access it?"
"It appears he can't Commander."
"Mars, you are in there, right?" The commander asked with some suspicion in his voice.
"I- I'll ne- need some ti-time I thi- think."
"Good, go to the medical tent in the next building. They are gonna help you."
'What the hell is happening here? First my neighbours and now my dad...? I have to act carefully, till I remember more... Mars... I like that name...'
- After running a lot of scans in the med centre and waiting for an eternity after that the medics came back with the results. -
"Special Operator Mars, your hosts vitals are normal and your emmited wavelenght is strong and consistently emmits. Your dogging point isn't the one we planned for but that should be alright. Everything else seems also alright. We could try setting up your mental core next. Try thinking 'Core System Access'."
"O-Ok"
'Core System Access!'
... CORE SYSTEM ACCESS GRANTED ... DO YOU WISH TO ACCESS THE MENTAL CORE OR THE PHYSICAL CORE? ... WAITING FOR RESPONSE ...
'There is a physical core? Let us go for the mental one now. Acess the Mental Core!'